Connecting the Dots / An Agency Blog

Guess who’s going to Kettle of Fish for dinner tomorrow? You guessed it, me! Well, at the time of this writing, me and 259 other tech savvy people. It’s all part of the buzz that’s surrounding the launch of Groupon in Vancouver earlier today. Groupon is a Chicago based website that negotiates discount deals that they can bring to a huge list of followers subscribing to the site via Groupon’s daily newsletter.

It works something like this. Groupon partners with a local establishment, works out a deal, and guarantees them a certain number of purchasers or the whole thing is void. For example, today’s inaugural offer is with Kettle of Fish. Buy the $20 coupon, and you’ll get $40 worth of seafood (probably in the form of a gift card that can be used at the restaurant). It’s the perfect solution for small businesses looking to use the web to reach their audience. And it’s not just for restaurants either; today’s deal in Las Vegas is for one month of unlimited tanning at Neon Sun Tanning for $25.

Prepare yourself now for a lot of fishing puns. The catch is that nobody gets anything unless the predetermined quota is met, which for today is 25. Obviously not a problem, since they’ve already got nearly 260 people on–deck. Hah! Get it?

Users still have 6 hours to get in on today’s offer. So far there’s 259 people that threw $20 toward the fish deal. That’s over $5,000 worth of revenue for Kettle of Fish, at a discount of course. It’s all about bringing the large audiences that the web can yield to a business that might not have the biggest web presence online. In some cases, this model is allowing smaller businesses to move massive volumes of products or services on any given day. Just imagine being able to sell 1000 gift cards in a single day at $20 a pop. That’s pretty big for any small business.

You can see how this kind of thing is going to blow up with a bazillion copy cat sites, and I’m sure there’s already a few services like this in Vancouver, but as we say here at Engine Digital, it doesn’t matter who did it first. It’s who’s first best!

So far it looks like Groupon is wearing the coveted “first best” crown. Backed by a recent Russian investment group ponying up $135 Million for capital, and fan communities already starting to surface, it looks like there’s going to be some thrift-happy Vancouverite’s in the months to come. Is Groupon the most exciting thing that’s happened in Vancouver since the Canucks killed off the L.A. Kings last night in the first round of the NHL Playoffs. I don’t know, but it just might put a lot of fish in our buckets.

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